1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to bicycle safety accessories and, more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to a third wheel which extends rearwardly of the bicycle and is normally elevated off the ground level and contacts the ground only if the rider, while doing a rear wheel maneuver, tilts the bicycle too far.
2. History of the Prior Art
With the current popularity among children of the bicycle having a so-called banana seat, has come the safety problems associated with "popping wheelies" for which the banana seat bicycle is particularly adept.
Several attempts have been made to provide a rearwardly extending wheel to prevent tipping such as taught in the patents to Hansen et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,284,096, issued Nov. 8, 1966 and Parrilla, U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,511 issued June 10, 1975. The patent to Hansen, while providing vertical adjustment of the rear wheel, requires a separate bracket attached to the seat of the bicycle which in turn requires modification of the existing structure.
The patent to Parrilla on the other hand, provides a simple attachment, but is not adjustable vertically. In fact the only effective adjustment is to move the parallel arms which support the extra wheel, either forwardly or rearwardly. Since these parallel arms are located at an angle, this would effect some minor vertical adjustment but not of any significance. Further, there is no showing of means in the Parrilla patent which would prevent the auxiliary wheel of Parrilla from dragging the ground when the bicycle is in a horizontal position.